Some Special Birds in June

So we're back in lockdown here in Melbourne! But luckily I was able to get out birding a bit while we were able, and actually had a pretty good month of birds.

First, there were some nice overwintering waders. During May a Whimbrel had been reported pretty consistently at Kororoit Creek mouth and then later a Grey Plover also turned up there. Whimbrels are not so common that close to the city and Grey Plover would be a state bird for me so I decided to go for a look.

the hide at Kororoit Creek Mouth

lots of birds out there (also tyres)

After setting up my scope I located the Grey Plover pretty quickly. And although it was about as far away as possible when I first spotted it, it took flight allowing good views of its black 'armpits' before it settled a little closer. Still not close enough for good phonescoping but I tried my best!

that is the Grey Plover with some stilts (well, kinda)

The Whimbrel was a bit harder to find but I eventually spied it out to the left of the hide on the mud, and watched it make it's way around the sandbar. There were also several Bar-tailed Godwits, but again, quite far away. My phonescoped pics of those are also pretty terrible, so instead please enjoy these much bigger, much closer but more common birds:

Black Swan

Back to Birding!

Last weekend was the first time in nearly two months that I'd been birding anywhere other than my backyard. Outdoor recreation is now allowed again Victoria, so I was able to meet up with my friend Charlotte for a little bit of local birding at Bushy Park Wetlands.

this picture doesn't show how many other people were actually out and about as well!

Just waiting by the entrance of the park for Charlotte, there was already a lot of bird action - it was a bit overwhelming! Some of the birds I hadn't seen for ages, even though they are super common, like the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Grey Shrikethrush and Spotted Pardalotes. Others had visited me in isolation or were around on my exercise walks like the Rainbow Lorikeets, Common Starlings, Little Wattlebird and Eastern Spinebill. But the best was a flock of Little Lorikeets circling around overhead. Luckily Charlotte arrived just in time to see them too - a lorikeet lifer for her!

Of course the only ones I managed to get photos of out of all these were both ferals I'd been seeing at home for the last two months anyway...

Spotted Dove

Common Myna

We actually ignored the sign pointing towards the bird hide and instead started off in the other direction to do a short loop through a more bushy area. But we got stuck by this field for a while because there seemed to be birds everywhere.

a little hotspot not far from the entrance

We first stopped when we heard the calls of Golden-headed Cisticolas. But there were also Superb Fairywrens and White-browed Scrubwren in the grass, along with Red-browed Finches on the taller reeds and plenty of Silvereyes around too. And while trying to deal with all the little bird excitement, some Australian King Parrots flew into that big gum.

the cisticolas were hard to get photos of

the Silvereyes weren't much easier

Lake Wendouree Last Winter

Restrictions have been eased here a bit this week, with "outdoor recreation" now allowed - yay! But I haven't quite made it out birding again yet, so instead I'm gonna go all the way back to August last year for this post.

I was in Ballarat for the day and went to check out the birds at Lake Wendouree. I actually took lot of photos on this little outing but never got around to posting anything, so here we go!

some fun facts to get started

Ballarat is a town about an hour and a half from Melbourne, out west, and Lake Wendouree is a large artificial lake within the town's suburbs. It's surrounded by some parkland and a walking/running track.

I ran into some Black Swans in the side street before I even got to the lake

I started my circuit on the southern side of the lake near the yacht club where I straightaway found plenty of birds: Little Pied Cormorants and Welcome Swallows perched on the boathouses, ducks and Eurasian Coots in the water, as well as Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos flying over.

boathouse view

Welcome Swallow

Backyard Birds During Isolation

Since March 24th I've been staying home and self-isolating - and paying a lot more attention to my backyard birds than I usually do!

Eastern Spinebill

A few I see almost every day from the kitchen window, without having to leave the house at all. Like the Eastern Spinebills who love the grevillea just outside the window.

yum!

this one hasn't quite got its handsome adult plumage yet

At least one Red Wattlebird also visits the grevillea but it's super shy and absolutely does not want to have its photo taken.

this is the best I could do

Birrarung Park Before Iso

A few weeks ago, when it looked like we were heading for some kind of lockdown, I took my chance to go out birding while I still could.

I decided on Birrarung Park. I hadn't been there for ages but I used to visit a lot when I first started birding - I saw my first Mistletoebird, Olive-backed Oriole, White-winged Triller and my one and only Song Thrush there.

It was overcast, gloomy weather - stand-by for some fuzzy pictures! Also, there was only one car in the carpark when I arrived so it seemed good for social distancing.

bush bird potential

After a check around the carpark for Tawny Frogmouths, I headed up the gravel track that leads off the main asphalt path around the park. It follows the river bank and has a bit of bush on either side. It seemed very quiet for birds - but a one lone Red-browed Finch was nice!

It's also good to check the power lines along here, but nothing too interesting this time.

I've seen Dusky Woodswallows here before

I scanned the paddocks way over on the other side with my binoculars and found some macropod friends were out for breakfast.

Eastern Grey Kangaroos - from a great distance!

I went down to the riverbank to the spot where I once saw a platypus. Some ripples coming from the very edge of the river bank turned out to be a Little Pied Cormorant.

it posed nicely on a branch for me - as did that piece of rubbish :( 

2019 5MR Challenge Catch-up + Wrap-up

So we're 4 months into the new year and I'm just now checking in with my 2019 5MR total... oops! It is a bit overdue, but first: a catch-up of the last few months of the challenge!

After my success at Wilson Reserve and Yarra Bend Park during the colder months, and the bonus Eurasian Tree Sparrow, I didn't expect to be able to add many more species to my list before the end of the year. I did however have a rather optimistic idea of seeing a 5MR platypus so did a few hopeful stakeouts along the Yarra once the days got longer.

platypus potential?

I didn't see any platypus but this did lead to me being able to add a few more final birds. On one evening visit to Bolin Bolin Billabong in October, a Fan-tailed Cuckoo was calling loudly. It proved a bit hard to locate despite its persistent calls but we finally found it - I think my first of the season and for sure my first for 2019 in the 5MR.

On a walk around the inside of the billabong that evening we also came across a Tiger Snake sunbathing on the side of the track just ahead of us.

only have a cropped phone pic - sorry :( 

October Sparrow Challenge

Obviously I have a bit of catching up to do on this blog! Given current circumstances I now have time to do it, so let's start by going waaaay back to October when Jen announced that the monthly 5MR challenge would be... sparrows! Or more specifically, how many sparrow species you could find in your radius.

And in Australia this is a bit of a challenge. We only have two sparrow species, with both of them being introduced. House Sparrows are pretty common in my 5MR, as they are in most of Melbourne, but the Eurasian Tree Sparrow not so much. There are a few reliable locations where birders will seek them out because a tick is a tick after all, but none that I knew of anywhere near my 5MR.

the only time I've seen them is at Serendip - this scruffy-looking one is from 2018

But in August I saw an eBird report of some Eurasian Tree Sparrows in Abbotsford - interesting! I had been thinking about going to a market at Abbotsford Convent anyway, and then Jen announced the challenge so really I had no excuse by then but to go and look for them.

PT birding!

I was catching public transport to the market and my walk from the station would take me right past the location mentioned in the report - see, no excuse!

And by the way, a warning: I didn't take my binoculars or camera with me on this outing so if you're offended by phone photos in which you can barely see any birds, look away now.